Friday, April 15, 2011

Old Friends and New on April GBBD

Pulmonaria Lungwort
I welcome with joy this Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, because at last I have some blooms in my garden. A few old friends made an appearance this week, plus some new ones that I planted last year. The pulmonary, like all my flowers, is very late. There are many of them in the Woodland Walk, given to me by a dear friend from her garden. Gifted-plants are the best, I think. Some small clumps of lungwort, with a few blooms, are peeping through the pine needles. Little else is happening in the Woodland Walk, where the deer seem to have ravished the mountain laurel, and much that I planted last spring including hellebores. The new hellebores at the entrance to the woodland garden have survived, and 'Ivory Prince' in the shade garden has truly come into its own.

Helleborus (I don't know the species)

Helleborus (I showed the red buds in my last posting)

Helleborus 'Ivory Prince'
 My old friends, the daffodils are glorious! They multiply every year.
Narcissus spp.

This daffodil bed is much admired by passers-by.
 I am hopeful that the new daffodil bulbs I planted last fall in the cottage-garden border, will eventually spread. 
One of the new ones -- don't know the species -- it came in a mixed bag.





The deer, or maybe a rabbit, ate most of the crocuses that I planted under the crabapple tree. I'm sad to tell you they ate the white one, the header in my previous post, before it could open its petals. I'm not sure if these crocuses will come back next spring, as the leaves are chewed down to the ground. Only a few remain ...
This crocus bloomed even though its leaves were chewed off.
My old friends, the primroses, are just beginning their spring show in the cottage garden. I believe every English cottage garden needs primroses:
Primula Hybrid Primrose
Primula Hybrid Primrose
I found the first tiny flower on the vinca, which my mother-in-law - who planted it - always called periwinkle.

Vinca minor Periwinkle
Finally, not blooms but lush growth on the sedums I planted around the pond. I chose green-leaved plants and dark-red ones. I don't know what the flowers will be like.

Sedum Stonecrop


Sedum Stonecrop
But what is this, under one of the maple trees? ...
One bloom that isn't late ... the first dandelion!
My thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens for hosting this wonderful meme, Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. She invites everyone to join in the fun, so why don't you head over to her blog and see what is blooming, today, in gardens all over the world.

To my old friends and new, both blooms and bloggers, I wish a happy springtime - or whatever season it is in your little corner. Have a great weekend!

Pamela x


~~ I love reading your comments. I hope you leave one so I’ll know you visited!
I look forward to visiting your blog in return.

27 comments:

  1. You have a lovely hellebore collection. Your pulmonaria is beautiful, those are my favorite colors. I grow sedum too, it is a great low-maintenance plant with lovely little rosettes of leaves. I am glad your garden is waking up.

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  2. A spring walk through your garden was just what I needed today. Pulmonaria or lords and ladies as we call them, are one of my early favorites. Right now as chilly and overcast as it's been I don't even mind seeing dandelions.

    Have a wonderful weekend!

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  3. I can see why the passage by admire your daffodil bed! I love your hellebores too. Happy GBBD!!

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  4. All of your flowers are lovely. Hellebores are becoming a particular favorite of mine. They are so dependable and bloom for a long period and are pretty too! I really like the reds. Thanks for sharing your photos and Happy Blossom Day!

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  5. It is nice to have the cherished old friends as well as the new exciting plants - spring in your garden is lovely.

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  6. Hi Pam,

    Lovely photos and I'm so glad to see you have blooms now. They really have grown quickly in order to bloom so soon after the snow.

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  7. Looking good Pam.
    I can see why the daffodil catch everyones eye.
    I haven't been out much(under the weather)but I don't remember seeing my lungwort. Maybe tomorrow I'll take a look see.

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  8. Pam, I loved what you said about the daffodils being like old friends. That's how I think of peonies. Old friends that come back for a short visit, just once a year.

    I had the same problem with my crocuses (rabbits, I think). Do you have any remedies, like cayenne pepper or the like? I took one of my contact's suggestions and tried it. So far, so good.

    I'm like the people who admire your daffs - I have several homes I love to drive by in daffodil season!

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  9. Pam your gardens are looking great! Don't ya just love when everything FINALLY starts blooming in the spring? I just have a few things so far but we're a couple of weeks behind everyone down below us. And our record breaking rain that is still hard at work with even some snow and hail. So that isn't helping any. Don't ya just love the Pulmonaria? I added another one last year and they are blooming right now. We fight the deer around here too - in fact they were bedded down a earlier today in the yard and Bob chased them off. Don't want them too comfy since we can't spray the "Liquid Fence" yet because of all the rain. It really works - they still come around but won't touch any flowers because of the stink. LOL

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  10. Pam, pretty hellebore you have there. Hope you have a good time on your visit, sorry to miss it.

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  11. Beauty everywhere. It was terrific to pop in and see your spring blooms. Those Daffs by the white picket fence caught my eye ... what a lovely patch.

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  12. Spring is up and running at your place! Lovely hellebores and beautiful daffodils. All blooms are so nice to see after a long winter, aren't they? I'm going to regret not getting some sedum this year. Yours looks great.

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  13. The lungwort photo is incredible!!! its a new plant for me, so it's fun to see it more mature! xoxo, tracie

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  14. That pulmonaria is such a pretty little thing! Sometimes it's not the big showy plants that touch our heart. Happy bloom day!

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  15. Lovely hellebores collection. I'm trying to work up the courage to plant some, but I'm nervous about the slugs being so anxious for me to try.

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  16. I like the photos you took of sedum. They are so beautiful and neat in that angle. Your pulmonaria is very pleasingly colorful. They are unusual for me since we don't grow them here.

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  17. Pam the blooms are just beautiful...and that picket fence is just the ticket for the spring garden show...we even welcome our first dandelion bloom :)

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  18. I have to admit I was pleased to see a dandelion. Their happy faces remind me of being a kid and a sure sign of summer.

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  19. What beautiful spring blooms are growing in your garden. I love your hellebores. Primroses always make me smile.I love their bright colors in Spring.

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  20. Hello Pam, what a refreshing sight your garden is for my eyes this morning. Love your hellebores, what a shame the deer have been dining on them! I am really interested in trying to grow them again after seeing them in your beautiful garden.

    This year Spring is very late in our area, I don't even have a dandelion blooming yet. (But I will soon enough!)

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  21. Lovely, especially the hellebores.

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  22. It's nice to see all the colour in your garden now that the snow has finally left. I love primroses, such a delicate shade of yellow. I've got some in bloom in my garden too at the moment.

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  23. Pam, such beautiful primrose. Hope you are well and much recovered and are enjoying the rites of Spring in your beautiful garden...

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  24. We wait every year for the Spring to come; it might seem the same but it is not. Ever again we adore the blooms in our garden and find the beauty in them. Isn't it a wonderful feeling? My daffodils and lungworth are blooming too.

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  25. Love seeing what is going on in PA. This is the season we always drove to watch our son play lacrosse at gettysburg, and I miss seeing the farms and the rolling hills.

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  26. What a Happy Springtime in your garden Pam - seeing old friends who have come back into our lives is always a good feeling. And a Happy Easter to you too

    Laura
    p.s. missed your last post but so glad all is well after your op.

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  27. Lovely Bloom day post Pam, Happy Easter to You!

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